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BRIXHAM SAC AGM MINUTES |
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Minutes of Brixham Sea Anglers’ AGM Sunday, 10th. January, 2010 Apologies: Rita Blackmore Jim Laing Matt Brooks Roger Turner
The minutes of the AGM held on Sunday 10th. January, 2009 were read out in summary and unanimously approved. Proposed Mike Concannon and seconded by Paul Cottell
Chairman’s Report:
Doug thanked everyone for attending despite the poor weather . He then continued by thanking the Committee for their very hard work in the past year. A list of competition dates was circulated for information. The new handbook will be sent to members in February, together with the latest Newsletter. There have been a few changes to specimen ratings and these were listed by the Fish Recorder, Russell Farley, later on in the meeting. Doug drew attention to a further restructuring of the prizes available for the competitions which have been necessary to keep the finances viable. These changes will be found in the Club handbook. Members were urged to join the Angling Trust, if only for the excellent individual insurance package that it gives. Doug made a plea to return all club trophies immediately for engraving, ready for the Presentation Evening in April. He asked that anglers looked after the new set of scales which were in operation in the Club house as these were more delicate than the previous ones. Doug informed the meeting that the British Conger Club is holding the championship for 2010 at Weymouth although Brixham had offered to host this event. It takes place in the same week as the Torbay Festival. Doug reminded those present of the Wyvern Presentation Evening to be held on Saturday, 30th January, 2010 in Exeter.. In conclusion, Doug thanked Mike Concannon for all the excellent publicity received on his Fishing Dartmouth site and for devoting a page for Brixham events and news.
Treasurer’s Report Present position: £300 in bank £20 in cash. The management will release funds for the Angling Section in the spring of 2010 Paul reminded members that prize club vouchers should be used within THREE months of issue in future. They are dated and are of no value after the date printed on them.
Fish Recorder’s Report: Russell Farley gave details of specimen fish taken during the year. It was noted that numbers of fish were well down on previous years, although some outstanding individual specimens were taken. The very poor weather for part of the year and the increasing practice of catching and releasing fish, even of specimen size, may in part, explain this. 284 fish were weighed of which 132 were club specimens. ( details to follow I did not record them at the time) 97 fish were Angling Trust specimens and there were 7 new Club Records. The Gilthead Bream record from shore was broken on a number of occasions, the present record standing at 5-5-2 taken by Neil Burnell.. 28 Brixham Club medals have been awarded with 3 gold, 7 silver and 18 bronze. A list of amended club specimen weights was read out; Shore Trigger Fish increase from 2lb.0oz to 2-4-0 Thornback Ray increase from 8lb 0oz to 9lb. 0oz Russell explained that the provisional list of prize winners would appear in the next Newsletter and that there were only a few days afterwards to notify or query any errors. Angling Trust members should let Russell have their membership numbers. Lastly, anglers taking out of area fish should remember to record details so that these awards can be made.
Competition Secretary: Steve Harrison confirmed the dates of competitions. A list of all the competitions was distributed to the members present. They will also appear in the new Handbook, which will be sent out shortly.
Election of Officers and Committee for 2010 All nominations were received unopposed and were therefore elected.
Officers Chairman: Doug Mosedale Vice-Chairman: Jim Laing Treasurer: Paul Cottell Secretary Mike Bailey Records Officer: Russell Farley Comp. Secretary Steve Harrison Clerk of Scales: Jason Upham Cup Custodian Adam Slack Publicity Officer Dave Fortune Junior Liaison Shay Upham Junior Rep: Liam Ford Angling Hut Mike Roberts
Committee Members Graham Dryer Jason Upham John Heather Roger Turner We welcome Roger as a new Committee member. The Club is fortunate to continue to benefit from a largely unchanged and experienced Committee at a time when many clubs have struggled to fill the key officers’ posts. Secretary Mike Bailey confirmed an exceptionally busy year with a significant number of important initiatives which affect angling taking place simultaneously.. The club acknowledged additional work undertaken by many Committee members on other Committees; Mike Roberts Berry Head Countryside Park and Wyvern Rep, Torbay Festival committee; Paul Cottell, Jim Laing, John Heather, and Doug Mosedale, Paul Cottell; Torbay Shield, Graham Dryer; RLNI and Shakespeare Starter Kit Comps, Doug Mosedale; Devon Forum RSA rep for Finding Sanctuary, Mike Bailey Steering Committee Finding Sanctuary and Sea Torbay meetings. Also Mike Concannon for publicity from his Fishing Dartmouth site and Tim Clyburn for setting up computer programmes and Sinta Nilwati for helping with refreshments. Mike went on to outline the many areas that the Club and Committee have been involved in during 2009 1. Finding Sanctuary project; the first angling club in the UK to have anglers interviewed, ( 40 in all) by Dave Murphy, as part of the fact finding process. Mike B had attended training meetings and the task of drawing up proposed Marine Protection Areas starts from February, 2010. Doug Mosedale RSA rep on the Devon Forum which feeds into the process of information gathering. 2. Marine Bill: This has now received Royal Assent and irrespective of the political scenario will become law as it is supported cross party lines. Mike B attended meeting s to represent anglers concerns about article 47 in London with DEFRA. Mike Concannon and Mike B also appeared on BBC south west politics show regarding the same subject. Situation at present; Shore anglers exempt from article 47. Boat anglers may have to be subject to quotas for stocks deemed to be in danger, ( cod at is the only one that applies) RSA may not sell fish under any circumstance nor can any boat that they travel on sell fish caught during that trip otherwise it is deemed to be a commercial trip. Brixham has been at the forefront of making sure that this is written into the rules of the Angling Trust and Wyvern. It is already written into the Club’s handbook. The club has responded in full to the 120 page consultation document. 3.. Reform of the Common Fishing Policy Club responded o this consultation as follows; Points raised about monitoring and enforcement of the proposed regulations for the commercial fleet, including much increased electronic surveillance and a range of increasing sanctions for repeat offenders. Protection of Marine Protected Areas. Issue of discards; club feels that there should be no quotas and no discards of valuable commercial fish. Angling activity within the Marine Protected Zones. 4. Marine Fishing Boundaries; DEFRA confirmed the new area of Devon and Somerset which was the Club’s preferred option for Marine Enforcement. 5. Composition of the Fisheries Committees. Club sent a strongly worded statement to hope that the new Committees would not be self-serving and would represent all the sea users with an emphasis on conserving not simply extracting. 6. Underwater marine cables for wind farms; DEFRA Club responded to this document although the nearest farms are in Bristol Channel and near the Isle of Wight. Concerns about possible effects from turbines of vibration and also electro magnetic pulses; will these drive fish away and species such as dolphins which are very sensitive to magnetic frequencies. 7. Natural England Proposed areas of reef and sandbanks that will be used to protect and enhance the marine environment. Club responded noting that many of the reef structures are in the south west. Generally welcomed this development as some are on our doorstep, ( Torbay) Will this mean an increase in fixed as opposed to towed gear. Questions remain about enforcing and monitoring the areas that are outlined. Drop in Day: Berry Head Hotel; Tuesday, 19th January 2010 11am to 8pm. For consultation. 8. Marine Conservation Society Proposed areas of total protection include; Berry Head; sea caves Babbacombe Bay; sea horses What form will this protection take. This need to be determined 9. Sea Torbay Mike B has attended a series of meetings for sea users within Torbay and as such is the only RSA member. 10. Ban on Netting within the Exe estuary This has now come into force due to netters catching mullet but also catching and selling bass from a nursery area, ( and game fish). Why can this ruling not equally apply to other south Devon rivers which are bass nursery areas such as the Teign, Dart and Kingsbridge estuary.?
There was general discussion about some of the points relating to the Marine Bill, and the Marine Protected Zones, which concluded the meeting as there were no formal resolutions made by any of those attending. The meeting closed at 8. 50pm |
